921 research outputs found
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Health: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 and 2 Datasets
No full textThis report examines the health data from the second wave of the NIDS with a view to assessing the strengths and weakness of the data and highlighting the potential of the NIDS panel for the analysis of the relationship between health status and socio-economic status in South Africa. We begin by investigating associations between health and changes in the panel composition. We then examine data quality both within and between the waves, focussing on item non-response within waves and data consistency between waves. The final section examines changes in nutritional status between the waves of the panel. The analyses in this report are descriptive, preliminary and very much intended to illustrate the potential of the NIDS panel for furthering our understanding of the links between health and socio-economic status.NIDS Wave 1 and Wave
Econometric methods and Reichenbach's principle
No full textReichenbach's 'principle of the common cause' is a foundational assumption of some important recent contributions to quantitative social science methodology but no similar principle appears in econometrics. Reiss (2005) has argued that the principle is necessary for instrumental variables methods in econometrics, and Pearl (2009) builds a framework using it that he proposes as a means of resolving an important methodological dispute among econometricians. We aim to show, through analysis of the main problem instrumental variables methods are used to resolve, that the relationship of the principle to econometric methods is more nuanced than implied by previous work, but nevertheless may make a valuable contribution to the coherence and validity of existing methods.Reichenbach's principle, econometrics, causalit
Inequality traps and human capital accumulation in South Africa
No full textWe consider the interaction between human capital accumulation and inequality in South Africa. We start by discussing three alternative theoretical frameworks that relate inequality and investment decisions in post-secondary education; namely the 'perfect credit markets hypothesis', the 'imperfect credit markets hypothesis' and the 'social externalities hypothesis'. Each of these suggests different policy implications. We then consider which of these seems to have the most validity in the South African context, by presenting some original analysis as well as considering some of the related literature. Our findings suggest that South Africa is indeed in an 'inequality trap' situation and that credit markets do not work well. There is some evidence that social externalities compound the effects of the imperfect credit markets. We conclude with a discussion of possible policy directions. These include information on eligibility to tertiary institutes of education, awareness campaigns regarding public financing options, subsidization of application and registration fees and efforts to improve school quality at the primary and secondary levels.NIDS dat
Education and inequality: The South African case
No full textFollowing the international literature, income inequality decompositions on data from contemporary South Africa show that the labour market is the key driver of overall household inequality. In order to understand one of the channels driving this labour market inequality, we use national household survey data to review changing returns to education in the South African labour market over the last 15 years; with a focus on both the returns to getting employment as well as the earnings returns for those that have employment. We show that South Africa has experienced a skills twist with the returns to matric and post-secondary education rising and the returns to levels of education below this remaining constant. Then, based on a regression based decomposition of earnings inequality, we show how this has impacted earnings inequality. Indeed, the increase in returns to post-secondary education has directly counteracted the equalising gains that have been made by increased educational attainment, resulting in consistent levels of inequality over time. Length: 29 page
Contribution Norms in Heterogeneous Groups: A Climate Change Framing
No full textWhile results from public good games with homogeneous players reflect the contribution norm of equal contributions, it is unclear what contribution norm will arise in a heterogeneous setting. Climate change is a perfect example of a social dilemma involving heterogeneous agents. As such, using a public good game with a climate change framing, this study examines what contribution norm arises when players are asymmetric in terms of their impact on the public good (mitigation). The climate change framing exacerbates equity considerations and ultimately increases the difficulty of finding a generalizable concept of fairness (contribution norm) acceptable to both player-types. The efficacy of communication as a means to promoting public good provision is also considered. The default contribution norm, irrespective of player-type, was to free-ride. With the introduction of communication, two dominant contribution norms emerge: free-riding and perfect cooperation. Classification-JEL: H41, Q54, Q58 Length: 27 pagespublic good; contribution norm; communication; heterogeneity; climate chang
Race, diversity and pro-social behaviour in a segmented society
No full textThis paper examines the impact of racial identity on behavior in trust games played by public high school students in South Africa. There is a systematic pattern of distrust towards Black partners, even by Black proposers, partially attributable to mistaken expectations. Non-Black proposers are significantly less likely to engage in a strategic interaction at all when paired with a Black partner, while Black proposers engage in exchange but at lower levels than when paired with non-Blacks. However, greater racial diversity in public schools promotes pro-social behavior towards Black partners
Describing and decomposing post-apartheid income inequality in South Africa
No full textThis paper describes the changes in inequality in South Africa over the post-apartheid period, using income data from 1993 and 2008. Having shown that the data are comparable over time, it then profiles aggregate changes in income inequality, showing that inequality has increased over the post-apartheid period because an increased share of income has gone to the top decile. Social grants have become much more important as sources of income in the lower deciles. However, income source decomposition shows that the labour market has been and remains the main driver of aggregate inequality. Inequality within each racial group has increased and both standard and new methodologies show that the contribution of between-race inequality has decreased. Both aggregate and within-group inequality are responding to rising unemployment and rising earnings inequality. Those who have neither access to social grants nor the education levels necessary to integrate successfully into a harsh labour market are especially vulnerable
Variation in concurrent sexual partnerships and sexually transmitted diseases among African men in Cape Town, South Africa
No full textBACKGROUND
Most studies that assess the relationship between concurrent sexual partnerships and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) use dichotomous measures of whether concurrency was reported or not. However, different forms of concurrency have different degrees of associated risk for disease transmission, and this should be considered. This article examines variation in both individual concurrency and partner concurrency among African men in Cape Town, South Africa, and assesses the relationship between different types of concurrent partnerships and STDs.
METHODS
Longitudinal data from sexual partner history tables are used to form measures of concurrency and the type of partner (main vs. nonmain) and degree of condom use (consistent vs. inconsistent) associated with these concurrent relationships. Cross-sectional data from a self-administered module are also used to assess the number of partners men have had concurrently and duration of individual concurrency. Probit regression models assess the association between the partner concurrency measures and self-reported STD history.
RESULTS
Substantial differences between concurrent sexual partnerships were observed and these variations were associated with different disease risk. Men had a greater chance of reporting an STD when partner concurrency was associated with main partners and inconsistent condom use.
CONCLUSION
Partnership dynamics must be taken into account in studies assessing the role of concurrency in STD transmission
Gender and Risk Taking in the Classroom
No full textWe examine whether differences in risk preferences explain gender differentials in test scores amongst a large class of undergraduate microeconomics students, where students were evaluated using multiple choice questions. In each of five class tests, the negative penalty associated with an incorrect answer was randomly varied across questions. We show that female students exhibit lower risk propensities on average, and that they are more responsive than males to an increase in the penalty for an incorrect answer. Controlling for differences in risk preferences, we show that the gender differential in relation to answering any given question correctly reduces by a third, and that the gender differential in overall test scores becomes statistically insignificant. This result is robust to a variety of distributional assumptions.Experimental Economics, Risk Aversion, Economics Education Classification-JEL: A2, A20, A22, C90, D8
Questionnaire Design and Response Propensities for Employee Income Micro Data
No full textThe design of the income question in household surveys usually includes response options for actual income, bracketed values, "Don't Know" and "Refuse" responses. This paper conducts an analysis of these response types using sequential response models specified analogously to those in the survey participation literature. We analyse the income question in Statistics South Africa's October Household Surveys (1997-1999) and Labour Force Surveys (2000-2003). The choice of survey years coincides with a period of development of the income question during which additional response options were steadily introduced to the questionnaire. An analysis of this sort sheds light on the underlying response process, which is useful for survey planning purposes and to researchers concerned with diagnosing the item missing and partial response mechanisms for variables of interest. It was found that the probability of a bracketed response increases as income increases, suggesting that this response option plays a significant role in getting higher income earners to answer the question. However, the relationship between response type and the correlates of income are no longer consistently statistically significant when the item nonresponse subset is decomposed into "Don't Know" and "Refuse". These findings suggest that response propensity models can help reduce specification error in single or multiple imputation algorithms. This is a joint SALDRU and DataFirst working paperQuestionnaire Design, Response Propensity Models, Employment Income Classification-JEL: C81, C83, D3